3.1 unit 4 Flashcards
what is social control?
where organisations or bodies of people put into place rules or regulations for people to follow to ensure that society runs smoothly by preventing criminal and deviant behaviour.
what is the role of the police?
to enforce the law created by Parliament. As a roadsides they aim to prevent chaos, investigate crimes, maintain law and can often be found patrolling the streets, at public events such as football matches, at music concerts and at roadsides checking that public highway rules are being followed.
The powers delegated to them from Parliament enable them to enforce the law in the UK.
aims and objectives of the police?
Keep the peace and maintain order
Protect life and property
Prevent, detect and investigate crime
Bring offenders to justice
what is the polices philosophy/values?
Basic mission of the police is to prevent crime and disorder
ability to perform their duties depends on the public’s cooperation and approval
use of physical force is a last resort
police are the public and the public are the police: The police are just citizens in uniform, paid to do full time what all citizens must do- Uphold the law.
Policing by consent
how are the police funded?
In 2024/25 the budget was £18.4 million which comes from three sources.
Two thirds comes from central government Most of the rest comes from local council tax
A small amount comes from charging for services, such as policing football matches.
Police have experienced funding cuts in recent years and ultimately, a fall in the number of police officers, but this has done a U- Turn in the last three years and they are now on a recruitment drive,
how many police forces are there?
National and Local reach: 39 regional police forces in England and 4 in Wales, one for Scotland and one for Northern Ireland.
what are some specialist police organisations?
Specialist police organisations with UK wide reach- Border Force, British Transport Police.
Departments with specialist duties such as CID (Criminal investigation dept), fraud, drugs squad, covert ops, surveillance teams etc. can be found in most police forces.
Some other policing specialist operate nationally as part of the National Crime Agency- Counter terrorism, CEOP (Child Exploitation and online protection).
is the UK police force armed?
With the exception of certain specialist units, the police force in Britain is largely unarmed (Force is a last resort-Peel).
What are special constables and PCSOs? What powers do they have?
Special Constables are unpaid, part time volunteers who undergo police training and have the same powers
PCSO- More limited powers, often deal with antisocial behaviour, they can issue fixed penalty notices for littering, confiscate alcohol from underage drinkers but they do not have the power of arrest- They can ask police officer to arrest a person though.
Who is the Police and Crime Commissioner for Nottinghamshire? What is their role?
Police and Crime Commissioners (Gary Godden))- Elected by the people of the area they cover. Give the local population a voice in policing. Aim to cut crime, ensure efficient and effective policing, set local forces priorities and hold chief constable to account for a forces’ performance.
What powers do the police have that compel society to conform to the rules?
Under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 the police have delegated powers that allow them to stop and search, question, interview, seize, arrest and detain. They can do this if they have ‘reasonable grounds’ to do so.
This power allows the police to control those who commit crime by taking them off the street and putting them in front of a judge to be tried in His Majesty’s Courts.
The Terrorism Act 2000 means the police have more authority when it comes to individuals suspected to be a terrorist or involved in terrorist activity. eg the police can hold a suspect without charge for up to 14 days if suspected of terrorism
role of the cps?
apply full code and threshold test to decide whether to prosecute
act as a prosecution in court
help the police with evidence leads
aims and objectives of the cps?
Advise the police on lines of inquiry and the evidence needed to build a case
Assess the evidence submitted by the police and keep cases under review
Decide whether to prosecute and is so, the charges to be brought
Prepare and present the prosecution case
Assist, support and inform victims and witness.
philosophy of the cps?
Independence and fairness-Prosecuting without bias and seeking to deliver justice
Honesty and openness
Treating Everyone with respect
Behaving professionally and striving for excellence
Equality and inclusion-To inspire greater confidence from victims and witnesses.
how is the cps funded?
Most of the CPS income comes form the government. (Approx £728 million in 2024/25)
Some income from the recovery of court costs when defendants are ordered to pay these.
Recovers assets confiscated from criminals.
working practices of the cps?
Except for some very minor cases, the CPS deals with a full range of offenders and takes responsibility for all serious cases.
It has national and local reach- It is a national body with 14 regional teams, each led by a Chief Crown Prosecutor. There is a ‘virtual’ team accessible 27/7.
The Code for Crown Prosecutor is at the heart of the CPS’ working practices and this includes how to make decisions to prosecute. They based on the Full Code Test-
The Evidential test
The public interest test
who is the head of the cps?
The head of the CPS is the Director of Public Prosecutions.
how does the cps achieve social control?
having the power on deciding who to prosecute and who should be put before the courts.
The CPS are guided by the full-code test (evidential and the public interest test) and the threshold test.
Therefore, they can choose to make examples of out people if they wish in order to show society that disobedience of the law will not be tolerated.
This echoes the idea of the sword depicted on the statue of Lady Justice, that crime will not be tolerated.
what is the role of the judiciary?
to apply and interpret the law made by Parliament to cases that come before them in a court of law.
preside over a trial and ensure that justice is properly carried out within the courtroom.
hear the arguments put forward by both parties, they hear verdicts and issue sentences.
can help to guide the jury on points of law that they do not understand and answer any questions submitted by a jury member.
what are the aim/objectives of the judicary?
Interpret and apply the law to cases in court.
Crown Court- Manage the trial, ensure fairness, explain legal issues, summing up the evidence, passing sentence if guilty.
Appeals Court- Make judgements on rulings from lower courts. Can involve the creation of precedent.
what is the philosophy of the judicary?
Judicial Independence
Impartiality
Integrity- Honest with strong moral principles
Propriety- Upholding society’s standards and morals
Ensuring equal treatment
Competence- Knowledge and ability to do the job
how is the judicary funded?
Funding from the Ministry of Justice- Approx £13.5 billion from the Govt.
The government pay the salaries of judges, although this is done with the advice of an independent body- The Senior Salaries Review Body.
up to Lord Chief Justice: £275,534.
what does security of tenure?
they cannot be removed from office except by a petition to the Queen which has to be passed by both Houses of Parliament
what is important about the judiciary’s salary?
Their salary is guaranteed: There is a clear hierarchy, and they can be divided into superior judge, who sit in Supreme Court, Court of Appeal and High Court, and inferior judges, who sit in Crown Court.
what types of crime do the judicary deal with?
Judges deal with all types of crime and offender, except the least serious cases. These are usually dealt with by Magistrates or the police issuing fixed penalty notices.
do the judicary have national or local reach?
They have national and local reach- Supreme court decisions settle points of national law and have nationwide jurisdiction. Judges working in the Crown Courts handle local cases.
what happens when judges are sworn in?
they take two oaths/affirmations. The first is the oath if allegiance, the second is the judicial oath.
how do the judicary achieve social control?
create law through Judicial Precedent when there is no existing law to refer to from Parliament judges themselves are creating common laws for those in society to follow.
When a judge or a court sets a precedent, this means that courts below must follow that decision so any future case that comes before the court must follow suit.
what is the role of the prison service?
Once a person receives a custodial sentence , prison provides a place for that individual to be contained away from members of society.
also has rehabilitation services and many prisons work with local councils, charities, the police and the courts to achieve the goals set eg could be to enrol on a college course or to learn a new skill so that the offender can get a job once they have served their time.
what are the aims and objectives of the prison service
To protect the public from harm
To help people who have been convicted of offences to rehabilitate so they can contribute positively to society
To hold prisoners securely and implement sentences and court order
what are the philosophy/values of the prison?
Describes itself as ‘preventing victims by changing the lives of offenders’
how is the prison service funded?
Paid by the government through general taxation.
In 2024/25, the total budget for prisons was approximately £7 billion.
cuts in recent years have seen a fall in prison officers.
According to HMPPS, the cost of keeping a prisoner in prison in 2023-2024 was almost £50,000 per year- Approximately £2.70 per prisoner, per day is allocated for food..
how does the prison service deal with attempted escapes?
Prisoners who have attempted an escape are placed on an escape list, must be handcuffed and wear bright yellow clothing when being moved. They must change cells frequently and have their clothes and some of their personal property removed from cells each night.
what are some examples of prison activites and routines?
Although the prison service aims to rehabilitate offenders, it has been criticised for lack of education and training and work experience opportunities. In 2018 half of prisons had too few programmes of useful activity and only one fifth were assessed as delivering ‘good’ or ‘reasonably good’ programmes.
One major reason for this is budget cuts.
how are prisoners rewarded?
Rewards prisoners can earn by abiding by the rules. Three IEP levels, basic, standard and enhanced. When entering prison, prisoners are all put on standard level, which means they can spend most of the money they earn for example.
Misbehaviour will result in being out on the basic level- Where a prisoner can only have what the law says they must have and no more. This means a limited number of letters and visitors and limited spending.
Good behaviour leads to enhanced level, additional privileges can include things like a TV in your cell.
All prisons have different rules about what privileges can be earnt.
how many prisons and prisoners were there in 2024?
In 2024, there were a total of 122 prisons in England and Wales holding approximately 87,000 prisoners.
how many private and public prisons are there?
108 public sectors prisons, 14 private prisons run by private companies. In 2019, it was decided that one of the private prison, HMP Birmingham, would be returned to the public sector after the worst prison riots in 25 years
what type of offenders and crimes do prisons deal with?
Deals with higher risk offenders who are deemed unsuitable to serve their punishment in the community. However, the range of seriousness of offence rangers greatly, from theft to murder.
is the prison service national or local?
The prison service is nationally organised. When a sentenced to prison, an offender is first sent to a local prison whilst waiting classification based on a risk assessment, before being sent to a more appropriate prison elsewhere.
how do prisons achieve social control?
The right to vote amongst other civil liberties are taken away from prisoners such as; not being able to see family members regularly, controlled exercise, limits on social time and not being allowed to serve on a jury. This is all part of the punishment of prison.
Token Economy is used and is a way of achieving desired behaviour from a person.
what is the role of the national probation service?
statutory criminal justice service that supervises high risk offenders released in to the community.
work with around 30,000 every year, supporting their rehabilitation whilst protecting the public.
Probation means that someone is serving their sentence out of prison. This can be due to a community sentence being issues, or release on licence. Anyone released from prison after serving between 2 days and under two years must be supervised by the probation service for at least 12 months.
how was probation privatized and publicized?
2021- service was unified again, with 12 probation areas across England and Wales taking responsibility for ex-offenders.
Prior to this, they worked in partnership with 21 community rehabilitation companies (CRCS), the police, the courts and private and voluntary sector organisations to manage offenders safely and effectively.
aims and objectives of the probation service?
NPS describes itself as a statutory criminal justice service that supervises high risk offenders released in to the community.
Provides statutory support to victims of serious sexual or violent crimes.
Priority is to protect the public by rehabilitating offenders by tackling the causes of their offending and helping them to turn their lives around.
what is philosophy of the probation service?
The belief that offenders can change for the better and become responsible members of society
Belief in the worth and dignity of the individual
A commitment to social justice, social inclusion, equality and diversity.
how is the probation service funded?
The Probation Service alone had a budget of £6.54 million in 22/23. provided by the government and comes from general taxation.
Community Rehabilitation Companies are private businesses who have a contract with the Ministry of Justice to provide probation services. They are paid for meeting rehabilitation targets, however, may have missed these targets in recent years- Some were even supervising offenders remotely via telephone!
what are some terms of a community sentence?
Up to 300 hours unpaid work (Community payback)
A curfew or exclusion order, or a residency requirement
A group programme- eg, anger management
what are the 2 types of client that the probation service supervise?
Offenders serving a sentence in the community, which can include
Offenders who have been released on licence from prison before the end of their sentence.
what is a liscence?
an offender serving a 12 months sentence will usually be released on license half way through the sentence. The licence has requirements attached, such as undergoing drug treatment, and is supervised by NPS.
who does the probation service work with?
The NPS works with all offenders deemed safe enough to serve their sentence in the community (or complete if they have been released on licence). At any one time, around 250,000 offenders are on probation.
is probation a national or local service?
The NPS is a national service, working to the same standards throughout the country, but delivering service locally.
what are the probation service responsible for?
-Preparing pre-sentence reports for the courts to help them select the most appropriate sentence for the offender
-Managing the approved premises for offenders whose sentence includes a residence requirement- EG living in supervised accommodation.
-Assessing prisoners to prepare them for their release on licence back in to the community.
-Helping offenders serving sentences in the community to meet the requirements ordered by the courts.
how does the probation service help victims?
-When an offender receives a prison sentence of 12 months or more for a serious violent or sexual crime, or is detained as a mental health patient, the NPS communicates with and prioritises the wellbeing of the offender’s victim.
how does the probation service achieve social control?
have the ability to send an offender back to prison if they do not abide by the rules of society and the terms of their licence.
They can ensure that greater punishments are enforced if offenders serving community sentences do not abide by these terms.
They attempt to modify the behaviours of offenders so that they are able to conform to the socially expected standards of society.
what is the role of charities and pressure groups?
charities and pressure groups are voluntary, non-profit organisations that are independent of government control.
aim is to promote the interest and welfare of the people they are concerned with, such as ex-offenders or victims of crime.
Charities are organisation set up to help those in need,
pressure groups are organisations that campaign to achieve change
what is a good example of a charity and a pressure group?
A good example is NACRO, which is a charity set up to help ex-offenders, whilst at the same time, campaign to change government policies that affect them.
aim and objectives of NACRO?
Aims to overcome the stereotypical view of the ex-prisoner.
Provides a rage of services such as housing, education, resettlement advice and outreach projects to keep young people from offending.
philosophy/values of NACRO?
A social justice charity seeking to change lives, strengthen communities and prevent crime.
how is NACRO funded?
NACRO has an income of approximately £50 million per year
This comes from donations, government grants and contracts for providing services for ex-offenders and others,
how does NACRO try and change the law?
Campaigns to change the law and policies affecting ex-offenders such as the campaign to reform the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and criminal records checks.
It is a supporter of the ban the box campaign- the removal of the tick box for criminal convictions ion many job application forms.
how does NACRO work with offenders/
work with a wide range of offenders, including those released from prison. It also works with young people at risk of offending, such as those excluded from main steam school.
concerned with the needs of disadvantaged young people and adults.
It has a large body of staff who are supported by unpaid volunteers.
does NACRO have a national or local reach?
has a national and local reach. It is a national organisation with local activities and projects in around 50 areas of England and Wales.
how do charities and pressure groups achieve social control?
done through the provision of rehabilitation activities and work with ‘at risk’ groups in ensuring they are able to behave in socially expected ways.
This can also be done if campaigns achieve changes in law, which will the dictate societal rules that have to be followed.
